Orthodox Jews in Edgware are looking forward to an easier life after planning permission was granted for an eruv for the area.

An eruv is a religious boundary marked by poles, inside which observant jews are allowed to perform actions such as carrying or pushing items which would otherwise not be allowed on the Sabbath. Thirty-nine poles will be placed around Edgware, running along Grahame Park Way, the A5 and Edgwarebury Lane.

Ruth Kosiner, a 29-year-old mother-of-two of Broadfields Avenue, Edgware, has struggled in the past, unable to take Ari, two, or Gali, one, out in their prams or pushchairs.

"It will make life a lot easier for me," she said.

"I have two young children and now we can go to the synagogue, go out for lunch or visit friends. We don't have to be confined."

Barnet had its first eruv put up in February last year to benefit the borough's 10,000-strong orthodox community.

Yet the idea of the eruv has been met with opposition from some quarters. Elizabeth Lawrence, of Barnet Eruv Objectors Group, said: "It's totally unnecessary. It's a claim for territory and demarcates an area as specific Jewish terrain.

"That's what we have been saying since the start."

Brian Gordon, a councillor for Hale ward (included in the planned eruv), was happy that the planning permission would put an end to the arguments.

He said: "The eruv will be of immense benefit to a limited number of people and completely irrelevant to everyone else.

"It will be self-funding in terms of construction and maintenance, and the whole device will be virtually invisible."